Joyride
by Takada Saiko
Summary: Auggie is not the designated driver. Ever. R&R please.


Title: Joyride

Author: Takada Saiko

A/N: So, when I came up with this idea a few days ago, I thought it was a bit of a stretch, and I decided not to ever write it, but I've been trying to get my best friend to watch CA (successfully, I might add!) and I told her about this idea and she gave me the perfect line for it. I promised her I would write it (even though I'm not crazy about how it turned out, she may come kill me and take my truck if I don't =P ). I guess what started me on the path to this one was Auggie's line at the end of episode 4 when he tells Annie he would have been there to pick her up at the airport if he still had his driver's license or a car and I thought 'Wow, that would be such a shock to go from complete independence to having to depend on someone else entirely for transportation beyond walking distance.' Then I started thinking about the Ford Taurus that Peter drives in White Collar and how it alerts him when he's about to run into someone (especially when he's fussing at Neal for whatever new scheme he's cooking up!) and I thought that maybe, sometime in the future, that sort of technology could be put to use for the blind. And, as I try to do, I looked it up before I started writing and found this: http: / www. wired. com/ autopia/2009/07/blind-driver-challenge . Apparently cars for the blind aren't too far off. Sweet.

* * *

**Joyride**

Stu had worked for Auggie Anderson in the tech division of the DPD for nearly three years. He had never known his boss when he'd had to use of his eyes, but the fact that Auggie never seemed to let that slow him down was somewhat awe inspiring to the young tech geek. It was worth giving notice to and certainly worth helping his boss and friend out any time he caught wind of a new gadget that would make the blind tech operative's life just a tad bit easier than it had been the day before. It was with a bit off somewhat classified information that he entered the tech room and approached Auggie's desk.

"Boss, I think I may have found something interesting," Stu began.

"Did you get a hold of that data sooner than expected?" Auggie responded, removing his headset and tiling his head so that he appeared to be gazing in Stu's general direction.

"No," the other man answered, "but it's something you'd be interested in. You know that buddy of mine from Virginia Tech that works on a lot of the newest upcoming gadgets? He had a hand in your laser cane."

"Yeah, Mick something or the other," Auggie answered, a confused look playing across his face. "What about him?"

"He called today and said that he has something that you might be interested in. You've heard about those cars that they were working on down at Virginia Tech, right?"

"The little go-carts that were supposed to be for blind drivers?"

"Yeah."

"They've taken it up a notch in his division. Apparently they have a new prototype out that's suppose to be very hushed up, but he said, if you were interested…"

A wide grin broke out on Auggie's face. "Seriously? What time?"

"Tonight after work."

"Definitely count me in."

* * *

The day came to a close without any mishap and Auggie nearly bounced out of his office. Stu had offered him a ride down to where his buddy worked and was taking too long by his boss' estimation to finish wrapping up his work.

"Really, are you encouraging me to leave stuff unprotected?" he laughed.

"No, I'm encouraging you to work faster," Auggie responded with a grin.

"We still on for drinks?"

Auggie turned, caught by surprise as Joe Malone Grapefruit wafted by his sensitive nose and he felt Annie's soft hand on the crook of his arm. Damn. He'd forgotten that he'd made plans with her for a night out at Allen's Tavern. "Annie…"

She frowned, looking between Stu and Auggie. "Oh no," she grumbled through a smile. "Stu's friend has another gadget."

"It's a car," Auggie answered without missing a beat.

"How did you ever get a job with the CIA?" Stu asked as he did the final shut down on his computer. "I said that Mick's trying to keep this hushed up."

Annie shrugged. "Like I have anyone to tell," she muttered, shrugging.

"You want to come?" Auggie offered.

"To see you drive? Absolutely."

Stu began to protest, but then gave up. He really had to learn to be more assertive in this job….

* * *

The car was sleek and beautiful. It was a sports car that looked like it might beat anything out on the open road and Auggie lightly ran his sensitive fingertips over it, grinning as Stu's Virginia Tech buddy explained how everything worked. The car took voice commands only from those that were set up in it, but it could be wiped clean afterwards without any worry of them getting in trouble from the somewhat illegal joyride. It wasn't sanctioned for anything off of the designated track yet, so Auggie was expected to drive it only where Mick directed him. He was fitted with a vest that was supposed to, through various vibrations, direct acceleration, deceleration, turns, traffic, and multiple other happenings that were including on an every day drive. By the time that the explanation was finished, Auggie was more than ready to get in and give it a shot.

Stu and Annie climbed in the back with the full assurance that the car was safe. "We have a wide open track here," Mick swore to them. "There's really nothing he could hit that would cause any damage. A few cones is it, really."

"And it'll recognize my voice?" Auggie asked.

"That's what the last five minutes of set up was," Mick answered, punching in his code to allow the systems to become fully operational. The car purred to life. "You lost your sight, what, five years ago, right? So you drove regularly before?"

"I did."

"Okay, everything's really similar. Breaks, gas pedal, and ignition. This is an automatic, so no worries about shifting gears." He watched as Auggie's hands drifted around the dashboard and the rest of the front of the car, finding everything he needed. "You ready?"

"More than." Auggie's hand rested lightly on the shifter and as he pulled back the computer read out: _"Park. Reverse. Neutral. Drive," _and the car rolled forward. _"Destination settings or limitations?" _the computer asked.

"Tell it 'limitations: track,'" Mick instructed and Auggie repeated the phrase.

_"Setting limitations for track perimeters," _the proper British, female voice read out. _"Over 200 yards to solid object."_

Auggie's entire face lit up, a grin insuppressible. "This is amazing!" he praised, speeding up.

_"Approaching solid object,"_ the vehicle warned and Auggie swerved right, sending everyone shifting to the side of the car. The computer read out their new limits.

"How fast can the car react?"

Annie and Stu looked at each other in the backseat. This suddenly did not feel like such a safe ride after all.

"Well, the car can hit some pretty sweet speeds," Mick acknowledged, glancing somewhat worriedly at his driver. The computer read out that they were approaching yet another solid object and Auggie shifted, speeding up with the turn. "We haven't found the sensor's limits yet, but in theory it's as fast as you can react. I mean, when a sighted person is driving at high speeds, they have less time to react. It's really no different."

Stu would have warned Mick that that was really not the right thing to tell Auggie, as Auggie had a habit of pushing limits. His own limits, rules, people… Most limits that he could push, he did. It was nothing wrong, and from what Stu had heard, it's what made him such a valuable field agent once upon a time and added into his personality of that day. Stu would have warned Mick, if Auggie hadn't accelerated and whipped the car around.

Annie recognized the move as one that she had been able to pull both on the Farm and in a real scenario. The difference was that she could see where she was going, and Auggie was relying on the hurried voice of the car's computer telling him that he was approaching this object, that object, and every object with barely any time in between. Finally, the car spun to a stop, its driver grinning like mad. "So when are these things going to become street-legal?" he asked.

Mick looked scared half out of his wits. "We've got a long way to go," he managed.

If Auggie knew how frightened the Virginia Tech graduate was he never let it on as he chattered away about the experience all the way to Stu's car. He climbed in the side seat and leaned back a bit when he heard the back door open and close with Annie's arrival in it. "_That_ was amazing," he said simply, as if it were to wrap up the past fifteen minutes of straight talk.

"I think we've learned a valuable lesson today here, Stu," Annie said, forcing her voice to even out and hoping that her blind friend could not pick up on the twinges of fear left in it.

"What's that?" the tech agent's shaky voice responded, not caring if it were noticed.

"Auggie is not the designated driver. Ever."

* * *

A/N: Ugh... I'm posting this mostly so I don't get fussed at by Gabi. There's a chance I might take it down b/c I'm really not fond of it at all, but the line had to be used. We'll see...

TS


End file.
